Filipino firm pushes organic agri pesticide

Image credit: drjill-live.com

Bulacan-based cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp firmly believes that tobacco, can also be used as an organic pesticide against insects and is an even more effective and much safer pesticide than chemical-based ones.

In connection to this, Mighty Corp has announced plans to develop and promote the alternative use for tobacco, to help reduce Filipino farmers’ dependence on chemical-based pesticides which destroy soil productivity and harm the environment.

Mighty Corp Executive Vice President and Spokesman Oscar Barrientos said, “The move is part of our company’s corporate social responsibility thrust. A small but growing number of Filipino farmers were shifting from chemical-based to organic pesticides, or a combination of the two. This trend should be encouraged.”

Barrientos also added that his company’s initiative will increase tobacco farmers’ income, and protect the environment through an organic pesticide that is effective in battling insects like as aphids, leaf rollers and stem borers.

Mighty Corp, the only wholly Filipino-owned cigarette company, is coordinating with key agencies like the National Tobacco Administration (NTA), Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB) in pushing for this program.

Based on reports, Filipino farmers make up 11.55 million of the country’s 38.6-million-member labor force and contribute 20 percent of its gross domestic product.  The production of main agricultural crops, including rice, corn, coconuts, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, coffee, mangoes and abaca are imperiled by insects and other pests nothing will done to stop them from spreading.